The porphyry-epithermal transition:

Telescoping, hydrothermal lifespan

and fluid processes

Kalin Kouzmanov

Department of Earth Sciences

University of Geneva, Switzerland

SEG-SGA-UNESCO Latin American Metallogeny Course, 23-25 May 2019 – Lima

MINERAL RESOURCES AND GEOFLUIDS

Earth and Environmental Sciences

HS epithermal
Magmatic‐hydrothermal systems
Porphyry stockwork
Hedenquist & Lowenstern (1994)

• PCD are commonly spatially and genetically associated with epithermal precious and base
metal deposits, as products of magmatic-hydrothermal systems in the top few km of the
crust
• Found sporadically in magmatic arcs worldwide (continental and island arc setting)
• PCD formation involves exsolution of metalliferous and sulfur-rich hydrothermal fluids from
calc-alkaline arc magma and deposition of ore minerals in response to fluid phase
separation, cooling, wall-rock reaction, and mixing with external fluids
 Magmatic fluids / porphyry and epithermal mineralization
Shinohara & Hedenquist (1997)

Shallow
environment: HS
epithermal

phase separation Deep

environment:
porphyry Cu-Au

(1) phase brine/vapor separation
=> ore stage (P)
(2) magmatic vapor => barren alteration
in shallow environment (E)
(Hedenquist et al., 1998)
(1) magmatic vapor-dominated fluid (P): QPS
veins (Hedenquist et al., 1998)
(2) later, single-phase supercritical magmatic
fluid to E environment (Heinrich, 2005)
=> ore stage (E)

Telescoping
PRECIOUS METAL
Au-bearing
AND POLYMETALLIC
epithermal vein
MINERALIZATION
Au-Ag ± Cu-Zn-Pb

porphyry Cu-Au
stockwork 1 cm
veining

“Telescoped ore deposits are those in which

alteration and mineralization that are characteristic
of late, shallow, low-temperature environments are
compressed vertically onto early, deep, high-
temperature environments”
Sillitoe, 1994 Seedorff et al. (2005)
 Outline of the talk

• Introduction
• Styles of porphyry-epithermal transition
• Rosia Poieni porphyry Cu-Au deposit (Romania):
- Telescoping
- Hydrothermal lifespan
- Fluid processes
• Morococha magmatic-hydrothermal system (Peru):
- Telescoping
- Magmatic-hydrothermal cycles and hydrothermal lifespan
- Fluid processes

• Conclusions and perspectives

Vertical development of porphyry – HS epithermal

Cerro Casale,
Maricunga Belt, Chile
(Muntean & Einaudi, 2001)

N S

• Ar/Ar dating of porphyry and

epithermal alteration: Identical within
error
• Hydrothermal lifespan: 0.5-1 m.y
Lateral development of porphyry – HS epithermal
FSE – Lepanto – Victoria,
Phillippines
(Arribas et al., 1995;
Hedenquist et al., 1998, 2001)

• K-Ar dating of FSE porphyry and

Lepanto HS epithermal: Identical
within error

• Hydrothermal lifespan: ~0.6 m.y.

• Magmatic-hydrothermal lifespan:
~1-1.2 m.y.

Erosion - key factor for porphyry-epithermal telescoping

Sillitoe (2010)

• Telescoped deposits – progressive paleosurface degradation leading to 1.5-2 km

erosion from the top of the magmatic-hydrothermal system during its lifetime
Hydrothermal lifespan

Sillitoe & Perelló (2005)

• Compilation of approximate lifespans of selected porphyry Cu systems in

the central Andes
• Preponderance of deposits with calculated lifespans of 1 to 2 m.y.
• Average erosion rate of 0.5 - 0.75 mm/a in telescoped systems

Erosion / Telescoping – deposit preservation and economic importance

Hedenquist et al. (2000)

• Depth ranges for

epithermal ore
versus age of
deposits: low erosion
rate allows
preservation of older
systems
• 0.5-0.75 mm/a
erosion rate of
telescoped systems:
if systems are
preserved erosion
seized after
telescoping

• Potential to generate giant ore deposits by juxtaposing or overprinting

the products of two or more mineralizing environments
• Telescoping may result in hydrothermal leaching and reconcentration
of metals deposited early in intrusion-centered systems
 Porphyry /epithermal belts

Apuseni Mts (Romania)

Morococha (Peru)

Seedorff et al. (2005)

Apuseni Mountains - part of the Carpathian-Balkan Metallogenic Belt

modified from Jankovic,1997

Cretaceous and Eocene-Miocene

metallogenic belts
 Geological setting – South Apuseni Mts

Neubauer et al. (2005)

- Miocene magmatism (14-7 Ma) in NW-SE basins

- Some of the biggest epithermal Au-Ag and
porphyry Cu-Au deposits in Europe

Rosia Poieni – Rosia Montana 9.42-9.16 Ma

cluster: 5 My protracted Rosia Poieni
magmatism and mineralization Rosia Montana

(Rosu et al., 2004; Kouzmanov et al.,

2005, 2006; Manske et al., 2006; Wallier
et al., 2006) 12-13 Ma

7.4 Ma

13 Ma

14.6 Ma
• South-North migration of
magmatism and clockwise rotation
14.9 Ma
(post 14 My)

• Diatreme-hosted Rosia Montana

IS epithermal Au-Ag deposit is ~4
My older than the neighbouring
Rosia Poieni porphyry Cu-Au
 Rosia Poieni porphyry Cu-Au deposit

• Relatively simple geology, the deposit apparently is related to a single magmatic

phase of diorite porphyry, the Poieni intrusion

• The largest porphyry Cu-Au deposit in the South Apuseni Mts: 350 Mt @ 0.36 % Cu
and 0.29 g/t Au

• 300m vertical exposure in the open pit: excellent picture of the transition between
porphyry Cu-Au mineralization with associated potassic alteration, minor dikes, and
overprinting Py-Ser and high-sulfidation epithermal veins with AAA zones

Hydrothermal alteration Milu et al. (2004)

Typical hydrothermal alteration zoning: K-alteration Cu values (in %) contour plots

core, phyllic alteration shell, both overprinted by AAA (levels +925, +770 and +550)
 Rosia Poieni - Textures

1 cm 1 cm 0.5 cm

1 cm 1 cm 0.5 cm

Rosia Poieni – Aplites and “residual melts”

Rosia Poieni diorite

SEM-CL
mapping Aplitic dike
“Residual melt”
with aplitic texture

Epithermal breccia 2 cm
(Py-Ena)

1 cm

Aplitic dikes postdate porphyry

Aplitic breccia-dike stockwork and predate epithermal
mineralization and AAA
2 cm
2 mm
 Main magmatic, breccia and hydrothermal events at Rosia Poieni

9.42 ± 0.14 Ma 9.16 ± 0.10 Ma U-Pb on zircon 9.26 ± 0.26 Ma Ar/Ar on alunite
9.23 ± 0.15 Ma 9.52 ± 0.31 Ma

U-Pb and Ar/Ar dating of magmatic and hydrothermal events

• ~1 m.y. time gap between volcanism and porphyry emplacement

• 500’000 years lifespan of the magmatic-hydrothermal system at Rosia
Poieni
• Overlapping of U-Pb and Ar/Ar data within error
• Porphyry and epithermal events are impossible to differentiate
 Fluid processes

• Microthermometry - heating/freezing experiments: P-T-X

parameters of the fluids - Th (°C) – min T of entrapment
- salinity of fluids (wt% NaCl eq.)
- P estimate based on Th and composition
• LA-ICP-MS analysis – concentration of major, minor and trace
elements in fluid inclusions (salinity in wt% NaCl eq. as an internal
standard)
• Stable isotope analysis (oxygen and hydrogen) of minerals and
inclusion fluids – tracing the origin of mineralizing fluids

Fluid evolution in the Rosia Poieni Cu-Au deposit

Porphyry stage

Mt + Cp

Anh

Porphyry Quartz: transmitted light Porphyry Quartz: SEM-CL Porphyry Quartz: BSE
 Fluid evolution in the Rosia Poieni Cu-Au deposit
Porphyry stage

• Coexistence of vapor and brine inclusions in

several generations of boiling trails: successive
boiling episodes of a homogeneous, magmatic
fluid

• Th: 420° to >550°C

• Salinity of the brines:

• 42-67 wt% NaCl eq.

SEM

Fluid evolution in the Rosia Poieni Cu-Au deposit

Porphyry to epithermal transition

T ~ 300-320ºC
P ~ 50 bar

T > 550ºC
P ~450-500 bar

SEM-CL Transmitted light

 Epithermal veining at Rosia Poieni

Fluid evolution in the Rosia Poieni Cu-Au deposit

Epithermal stage
Th: 293° to 343°C; Salinity: 33-41 wt% eq NaCl
Infrared light

Infrared light Infrared light

Time

Th: 264° to 310°C; Salinity: 0.4-2.1 wt% eq NaCl

 Pressure-paleodepth constrains: Rosia Poieni

• >1.3 km of erosion needed during the lifetime of the magmatic-hydrothermal system

• Drastic change in P => catastrophic event (e.g. sector collapse)
• Timing of P and E mineralization – identical within analytical precision (U-Pb and Ar/Ar)

Composition of the mineralizing fluids: LA-ICP-MS study

40um

Transient LA-ICP-MS signal

of individual fluid inclusion (Pettke 2008)

Layout of the LA-ICP-MS instrument developed

at ETH Zurich (Heinrich et al., 2003)
LA-ICP-MS: porphyry stage fluids main results

Partitioning of As, Sb
and Cu into the vapor
phase relative to other
elements such as Na,
K, Mn, Rb, Sr, Pb, Zn
and Fe (similar to
other porphyry Cu
systems)

Cs as a proxy for degree of crystallization (Audétat & Pettke, 2003; Audétat et al., 2008)

Fractionation curve of Cs
• Cs - strongly incompatible
element (exponential increase of
Cs in residual melts)

• Cs enrichment in magmatic fluids

with time, due to progressive
fractional crystallization of magma

A – 100% incompatible (i.e., no Cs is incorporated in the crystallizing melt

and no fluid exsolves)
B – Fluid saturated fractional crystallization in the Rito del Medio pluton,
New Mexico (note that crystallinities calculated from curve B are only a few
percent higher than if calculated under assumption that Cs was 100%
incompatible)
LA-ICP-MS: main results (Kouzmanov et al., 2010)
Progressively crystallizing magma at depth…end-member fluids…fluid mixing…

New input of  • Cs as a monitor of
magmatic  degree of crystallization
vapor of the source magma in
evolved magmatic-
hydrothermal systems

Gangue

“Residual” 
porphyry brine

Ore 1 cm

LA-ICP-MS: main results

• Contrasting signatures of
E porphyry and epithermal
2 fluids using ratios between
strongly incompatible and
compatible elements
3
• Similar slope of the
observed trends indicative
of fluid release from more
fractionated parental
magma
P
1 • Enargite-precipitating
fluids – a mixing product
of a new “portion” of
magmatic vapor and
residual porphyry brines
 Stable isotope analyses of porphyry & epithermal fluid inclusions /minerals

Extraction by thermal decrepitation of Quartz-hosted fluid inclusions

Stable isotopes – fluids

(Kouzmanov et al., 2007)

• Magmatic signature of the

ore-forming fluids (porphyry
and epithermal stage)

• Compositions identical with

fluids from other porphyry-
Cu systems (derived from
degassed melts)

• Magma degassing in an
open system during
porphyry and epithermal
mineralization

• No evidence for mixing

with local meteoric waters
during the formation of HS
epithermal mineralization
Oxygen isotopes (bulk crystal laser fluorination)

Thermometers used:
i) mineral-mineral pairs (qtz-mt, qtz-bio, alu-py)
ii) Ti-in-Quartz by LA-ICP-MS (Thomas et al., 2010)

• Dominant magmatic component of the hydrothermal fluids during porphyry and

epithermal stages
• Steam-heated alunite in the upper part of the system (paleo water table)

In situ 18O/16O ratios in quartz (CAMECA IMS 1270 ion microprobe, CRPG, Nancy, France)

Ti

Meteoric water
incursion
Sharp decrease of 18O quartz of
8‰ over <30 m zone matching the
P-E boundary (down to 1.7‰)
followed by rapid reequilibration
back to higher 18O values
 In situ 18O/16O ratios in quartz

When porphyry quartz corroded – no sign of

meteoric water infiltration on the P-E boundary

Summary / Conclusions

• The porphyry-epithermal telescoping at Rosia Poieni (life span <0.5 m.y.) is

attributed to synhydrothermal degradation of the volcanic edifice, due to
catastrophic event (sector collapse).
• Meteoric water infiltration and rapid assimilation by the magmatic fluids,
dominating the system even in the near-surface epithermal environment, as
evidenced by in situ 18O analysis of hydrothermal quartz
 Ladolam: modern analogue of the Rosia Poieni system
www.goldinvest.de Lihir island,
Papua New Guinea

www.wikipedia.org

Lihir Island, Ladolam Au deposit

Large-scale volcano sector collapse:

• Magmatic fluids in epithermal environment
• Drastic P drop of the hydrothermal system
• Ore precipitation
• No dating results available
digital elevation model

Haneberg et al. (2005)

Morococha district, central Peru

Sillitoe & Perelló (2005)

Morococha-Toromocho

• Contractional magmatic arc

(Miocene-early Pliocene belts)
without significant volcanism
developed over a thickening crust
during low-angle subduction
• Morococha district – part of the
Polymetallic Miocene Belt of
central Peru
 Geological setting
Rosenbaum et al. (2005)

Bissig & Tosdal (2009)

Morococha-Toromocho magmatic-hydrothermal system

E W

2006
Toromocho porphyry Cu-Mo deposit Codiciada porphyry

Total Reserves + Resources

Epithermal
2.234 Gt @ 0.447% Cu, 0.017% Mo and polymetallic vein
7.05 g/t Ag
www.chinalco.com.pe (2016)
Porphyry
Morococha Zn-Pb-Ag-Cu Cordilleran Qz-Mol vein
polymetallic deposits
historical Ag mining district
Total Ore reserves + Mineral Resources D-vein + phyllic
alter.
15 Mt @ 202 g/t Ag, 4.59% Zn, 1.40% Pb and Diorite porphyry
0.49% Cu Kouzmanov et al. (2008)
(K-alteration)
Pan American Silver Corp., 2016
Morococha - Geology

Bendezú et al. (2008)

Morococha - Geology

Bendezú et al. (2008)

Porphyry style mineralization

Central Morococha district – cross-section (vertical exaggeration)

Catchpole et al. (2008)
 Dating of magmatic and hydrothermal events

McInnes et al. (2005)

• Multi chronometer approach
• Magma emplacement (zircon U‐Pb) and cooling history (Kfs Ar‐Ar; biotite Ar‐Ar) 
of porphyries
• Hydrothermal mineralization (molybdenite Re‐Os) and alteration (monazite U‐Pb; 
sphene U‐Pb; muscovite Ar‐Ar; biotite Ar‐Ar; adularia Ar‐Ar)

Magmatic-
hydrothermal
lifespan

• Two distinct magmatic-

hydrothermal cycles
• Lifespan of each
between 1.5 and 2 m.y.
• Meso-epithermal
polymetallic
mineralization postdates P1 P2
by ~1 m.y. the porphyry
events
• Overprinting of multiple
magmatic and
hydrothermal events in
E2
the central part of the
district resulted in the E1
formation of the giant
Toromocho porphyry Cu- Bendezú et al. (in prep)
Catchpole et al. (2015)
Mo deposit Kouzmanov et al. (in prep)
 Cooling history of the Morococha system

• Overprinting of multiple magmatic and hydrothermal events
• Large scatter of Ar‐Ar ages due to low closure T (400‐300°C) and 
possible resetting by higher T events

Geological map of
the Codiciada area
(Bendezú, A. &
Catchpole, H. 2007)
Alteration map
of the Codiciada
area
(Bendezú, A. 2007)
Phyllic
alteration

Skarn

Potassic 
alteration

Na‐Ca 
alteration

Cooling history of the Morococha system

• Codiciada porphyry: 
rapid cooling from 
magmatic T (>800°C) 
down to low T (<300°C) 
for <100 ky

• Ar‐Ar age of phlogopite 
from skarn in Codiciada –
resetting or new thermal 
event 0.5 m.y. younger
Resetting?

• Sulfurosa – a separate 
porphyry centre with a 
distinct polymetallic 
mineralisation event at 
0.5 m.y. 0.5 m.y. ~8.3 Ma

• Time gaps between the 
different magmatic/thermal 
events of ~0.5 m.y.
 Porphyry centers at Morococha

Codiciada: 9,3 – 8,8 Ma Ticlio: 8,3 – 8,05 Ma Toromocho: 7,7 – 7,2 Ma

• Composite porphyry stock • Individual center, • Composite porphyry stock

• Na-Ca  K (bt)  phyllic single porphyry
(granodiorite) stock
alteration • Strong K (bt-Kfs) 
• Anhydrous endoskarn Chl-Ms  phyllic
(Gar-Px) and hydrous • Anhydrous endoskarn
(Serp-Mt) exoskarn (Gar-Px) and hydrous
(Serp-Mt) exoskarn
• Qtz-Mo-Py stockwork • Qtz-Mt stockwork
mineralization (Cu-Au anomaly)
• Not economic
• Strong K (bt-Kfs)  phyllic
• Skarn mineralization along
contact zones of various
porphyry intrusions
• Qtz-Moly, Qtz-Cp, Cc
veins, late Cordilleran
veins, skarn
• Only known economic

Epithermal 
polymetallic 
vein

Porphyr
y Qz‐Mol 
D‐vein +  vein
sericite 
alter.

Codiciada
Porphyry-to-epithermal transition: Textures
Epithermal
polymetallic
vein

• Crosscutting / Porphyry
Central area
reopen Qz-Mol porphyry vein
offsetting Qz-Mol
vein
D-vein +
• Common re-opening phyllic alter.

K-alteration

Moly 1 cm Toromocho Sulfurosa

Qz-Mol D-vein +
porphyry vein phyllic alter.

Porph Qz

Qz-Py-Sp
Qz-Py-Sp polymetallic
polymetallic K-alteration vein
stage

Epithermal polymetallic
2 cm vein with strong silicification 1 cm
and phyllic alteration
Single-phase early fluids Tomé et al. (2013)

“Boiling” fluids related to the mineralization Tomé et al. (2013)

 Amorphous silica-barite vein
Polymetallic veins: Textures (central-W) 5100 m.a.s.l.

400 m from present

Sp-Rdc-Qz vein day surface 4240 m.a.s.l.

(central-E)

Zoning!

1cm
1cm Hydrothermal sediment
 environment
close to paleo-surface

• Vertical extension of >1000 m

• Common zonation
• Open space filling
• At 5100 m.a.s.l. – hydrothermal sediments
in late Qz-Bar veins (close to paleo-surface
=> preserved from erosion late-stage
1cm
mineralistaion) Present-day surface

Tracing epithermal fluids in zoned polymetallic veins

Catchpole et al. (2011)
PMearly
PMlate

Qz-Sp-Rhod
polymetallic
vein

early qz-py
veinlets
Fluid evolution: mapping ore-precipitating fluid inclusion assemblages
SEM-CL + reflected light image
Catchpole et al. (2011)

qz py

tn

50 m
0.4 mm
transmitted light image

• Fracturing in pyrite and quartz can be correlated using combination of

reflected light microscopy, SEM-CL and transmitted light microscopy

• Tennantite-precipitating fluids trapped along healed fractures in quartz

• Solids (daughter crystals or accidentally trapped inclusions?) identified

as tennantite/chalcopyrite using Raman microspectrometry

Fluid evolution Catchpole et al. (2015)

Simple cooling ± minor mixing with meteoric fluids (dilution) at T<260°C

Porphyry-
Cordilleran polymetallic veins
type quartz
Carbonate stage Base metal stage vein

Boiling

Boiling
72 fluid inclusion
assemblages:
Boiling
 Fluid evolution Catchpole et al. (2015)

Cordilleran polymetallic veins Porphyry veins

Carbonate stage Base metal stage
1.8 to 0.5 wt%
2000 to 10s ppm
100 to <1 ppm
?
Concentration (µg/g)

Boiling

Th (°C)

Cooling – efficient precipitation mechanism!!!

Fluid evolution Catchpole et al. (2015)

boiling boiling
300 ppm
100 ppm
Concentration (µg/g)

precipitation precipitation

~1 wt%
MnCO3 boiling
formation
precipitation / boiling

300 ppm
precipitation

Th (°C) Th (°C)
 P-depth constraints Catchpole et al. (2015)

3.5-4 m.y. lifespan of the system; >2000 m eroded: min average erosion rate of ~0.6 mm/a
Lithostatic - hydrostatic transition: Pearly to PMlate (from 8 to 6-5.5 Ma)
min erosion rate of 0.9-1 mm/a for the last 2-2.5 m.y. of the lifespan of the system

Morococha magmatic-hydrothermal system

 Porphyry, meso-epithermal mineralization and on-going erosion

9.5 - 8.5 m.y.

PMe 8.5 - 7.2 m.y.

6.5 - 5.5 m.y.

Pe Pe
PMl present-day
PMe
PMe
PMl
Pl
Pl
Pl

Conclusions

• Transition between porphyry and epithermal environment of ore formation is

common for many porphyry-centered districts worldwide.
• In the South Apuseni Mountains relatively short-lived magmatic-hydrothermal
systems (life span <0.5 m.y.) show evidence of important erosion rates during ore-
formation and the transition between porphyry and epithermal environment.
However, the erosion / uplift seized or erosion rates dramatically decreased shortly
after the epithermal ore formation (preservation of the systems).
• In the Morococha district of central Peru – longer magmatic-hydrothermal lifespan
(1.5-2 m.y.); slow erosion prior to and in parallel with polymetallic vein formation
• If for some systems evidence exists of catastrophic events leading to very fast
transition between porphyry and epithermal environment of ore deposition, for
others – progressive erosion took place for a relatively short time period
• Fluid processes at the porphyry-epithermal interface are intimately related to
processes affecting the parental magma (e.g. fractional crystallization)
• Fluid mixing is common in telescoped systems – two scenarios are possible:
between two different magmatic fluids (vapor-residual brine) or magmatic-meteoric